Railroad track construction



Dec. 2l, 1943. s REDDlCK 2,337,497

RAILROA TRACK CONSTRUCTION Fil`ed Oct. 20, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 www ATTIJRNEY S. J. REDDICK RAILROAD VTRACK CONSTRUCTION Filed oct. 2b, 1941 2 sheets-sheet 2 WMJJ mvE'uTnR ATTnRNEY 5.1 Rgddik Patented Dec. 21, 1943 UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEFIcE 2,337,491 nAnnoAn TRACK coNs'rRUc'rloN stewart Joseph Redaick, Aubumaale, F1a. Application october zo, 1941, Serial No. 415,746

(c1. zas-7) 2 Claims.

This invention relates to the construction of the roadbed and securing means for rails and it has for its primary object the provision f a permanent support; to which the rails may be securely fastened. A further object of the invention is to avoid the many disadvantages due to the use of wooden railway ties and to eliminate the undulatory movements and swaying caused by the movement of ties in the ballast. A still further object of the invention is to provide a,

form of track support in which the entire weight limposed upon the rails will be distributed over a wide area of the roadbed, in which the alinement of the rails may be made very accurate, in which the surface may be made substantially perfectly smooth, and in which the rails may be cushioned to reduce noise, with a resultant smoothness of ride difcult or impossible to attain with previously used track supports. Further advantages to be obtained by the improved construction herein disclosed'are: holding the rails to gauge, reducing wear on rails and rolling stock, greatly reducing the cost of upkeep and replacement, prevention of the growth of grass and weeds, and prevention of creeping of the rails.

"as claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section vthrough a rail and the means by which it is'secured to the roadbed; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the securing means; Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the securing means on the line III-III of Fig. 1; the bolt being shown in elevation; Fig.

'4 is a plan view 4oi" a portion of the roadbed and tracks; Fig. 5 is a transverse section through the roadbed; Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan view on a larger scale than that of Fig. 4, showing a fragment of a rail, a rail plate, and the devices for preventing creeping of the rail; and Fig. 'l is an elevation with parts in section of the members shown in Fig. 6.

The road bed for a single track railway will preferably consist of a continuous strip Vof concrete I, about ten feet wide and' nine inches or more thick, on which will rest a series of concrete slabs 2, also ten feet wide and nine inches Ythick and about sixteen and one-half feet long, with suitable expansion joints 3 between vthe slabs. The lower strip of concrete, being em'- bedded in the earth and covered with nine inches of concrete slabs will not need expansion joints but will form a substantially unyielding base to support the upper layer of slabs. Within the upper surface of the slabs will be secured a plurality of bolt anchors consisting of sheet metal boxes 4, the tops of which will be carefully alined and set at the proper level or grade and separated in the slabs at the proper distances to register with the bolt openings in the Arail plates 5 longitudinally, and transversely to agree with the track gauge.

These rail plates 5 are shown in section in Fig. 1 and in plan in Fig. 6 on a smaller scale. For the standard pound rail having a five and one-half inch base 6, the plates will have a cen` tral longitudinal recess 'I which will receive the elastic cushion strip 8 and the base B with a small clearance; the plate at the recess is shown as tapering from a thickness of about one-half on the sideA placed toward the outside of the track to a thickness of about three-eighths on the other side, this taper being for the purpose of tilting the rails slightly inward toward the center of the track. At each side of the recess 1, holes 9 are formed in the thicker portions of the plates for bolts l0 having nuts Il which engage lugs I2, one end of each lug bearing on the rail base 6 and the other end upon the top of the plate 5.

The metal anchor box 4 may conveniently be formed from a flat sheet metal blank by bending up the sides 4a and 4b from the bottom 4c, bending in end portions of the sides, as at 4d, to meet 'atvthe centers of the ends, and foldingY the top vportion 4e across to lie uponthe-top of the sides andA ends. All the joints are welded together. The ends of the bottom 4c'will be left Projecting 'to provide additional surface to sec-ure the box in the concrete. s v

A collar 4f having an expanded central portion 4g wide enough to permit the passagefof a bolt A*head Illa, rests upon the top 4e and is welded thereto, the top having an opening punched therein registering with the `inside of the collar. A bolt introduced into the central opening as indicated by broken lines Ib in Fig. 2, with the head beneath the level of the top 4e, may be moved'to the right or left into one end of the collar and a second bolt may then be inserted in the same way and moved into the other .end of the collar. The top 4e and the collar 4f will thus lie above the sides of the head Illa to resist an upward movement. The ltop of the collar will be ilush with a flat surface I3 onthe top of the slab 2. On this flat surface, a cushion strip I4 will be placed, suitable holes I5 being formed in the cushion for the bolts I0. The plate 5 will then be placed on the cushion, the holes 9 receiving the bolts I0. With the cushion 8 in place in the recess 7, the rail base will be set in the recess on the cushion and adjusted longitudinally to its proper location. While the rail base may be in contact with either one of the side walls of the recess 11, `it rcannot engage the Shanks of the bolts Il) which are in the holes 9 spaced a little way from the recess. Every plate will be securely held in place vnear each end by the bolts. V.;

of an anchor box, there being .two boxes .and four bolts for each plate.

and the plate and the `castellated nuts ,II

tightened to draw the bolt heads firmly 4into con-A tact with the under side of the top 4e `and I*to press the rail down upon its cushion in the plate. While `,the cushionsj and I4 may be compressed still more as the wheels-of a Vtrain pass along a rail, any `downward'movement of the bolts that can occur will be Apermitted Vby the space left Abetween Athe bottom `of the bolt heads and the box bottom 4c. A cotter key Ila may be used ,to lock the, nut -I I.

A standard rail -is thirty-three feet long and, as shown in Fig. 4, the joint between the ends of two rails comes opposite the center of the rail the opposite side of `the track. In `the preferred arrangement illustrated, the plates v5 are eleven inches wide and thirty-six Vinches long, abeing spaced apart thirteen and one-half inches. YA rail joint is -located at the center of a plate and the angle lbars do not interferewth the lugs `I2. `With v this spacing, there are seven intermediateplates between --the plates at the rail joints; e

As indicated vin Fig. 6, some of the rail plates may have additional holes 9a in lineV with Ythe holes 9 and preferably spaced three Vinches from center to center, so that v'the same plate may be used gin yvarious bplaces in which the spacing of thexanchor Vboxes has been made dilferent from the normal distances. In the plate illustrated, *then distances between vbolt centers could be 24 inches, 27 inches, or 30 inches with only the four additional holes 9a.

While the' surface of the top of the concrete slabs '2, is made smooth for at least a width of eleven inches and a length of thirty-six inches at Veach -plate `to form a flat, solid bearing for the plate vand its cushion I4, the spaces between the rails and between each rail and the outer edge of the'slabs -is'preferably curved yto form continuous smooth troughs, I6, I1, and I8, as best shown Fig. 55, Atsuitable intervals, cross channels I9 maybe 4form-ed to `connect the central trough IITI with eitherside trough I6 or I8 and where con ditions perm-it, side channels 2l) will be provided to-'allow water to run oi'l the roadbed.

Ata distance of six feet or vmor-e longitudinally of the -tr'ack from the'point where a rail joint is to be located, anchor posts 2l made of heavy lchan-nel iron with slightly flaring flanges will be secured in the concrete slabs 2 with the central web of the channel closely adjacent to the line ofthe vouter edge of the ibase of the rail. Slidable upon the outer surface of the posts 2| are slides 22 which flare outward at the top and bottom away from the kpost as indicated at 23 in Figs. E and 7. These .slides are notched in rtheirY rearwebs fior engagement with the edge of theV base ofthe rail and lie between the postand the The `lugs I2 will be put in place on the bolts to engage .the .rail base -byjthe friction of the -wheels 1on the rail. The lflaring top .and bottom of the slides provide spaces for lubricating grease and avoid the wearing of sharp edged notches into the post.

As a means for preventing lateral separation of-the anchor boxes in case of cracking of a concrete slab, reinforcing tie rods 26 may be used to connect the boxes of opposite sides of the track,

'the rods being bent or curved at each of the two endsto engage around the outer end of an anchor box 4. As indicated in broken lines in Fig. 2, .the free end.may :extend only 'a part of'thelength `of 'the box, permitting rarusted-out or damaged box to tbe chiseled out `of the concrete and re- :placed :by Va new box :without cutting or disturb- -ing the reinforcing rod 26.

.It will be .seen from the foregoing description that this Ainvention provides aheavy, rigid, and `durable lroadbed having permanent anchoring `means forholding the fastening bolts securely in place. The track plates are held in permanent alinement and at a xed `gauge which cannot vary because of Vany side sway or -side thrust upon the rails. There are no wooden ties to wear, rot, or burn; no .b'allasting ofthe track; no cutting or Yburning of weeds -or grass in the space between the rails ror vclose tothe outside of the rails.

The upkeep of such a roadbed would -be very `small as compared witlrthe present vconstruc- .tions using wooden ties, and while the rst cost .wouldbe greaterythis would be more than compensated for 'by Ithe greatly-decreased annual cost of ,maintenance In 'freight yards and in train sheds, the smooth Ycement surfaces would vevidently vbe much safer, more `sani-tary, and more easily lkept clean. At street crossings, the pavement between the rails would rarely need to be torn up for any repairs :or replacements.

While the methods to be used in laying the concrete for such a roadbed Vform no part of the present invention, it will be obvious that after the Vanchor boxes have been set along the proper ycurves .or straight lines, with their tops level or on a desired gradient, the upper edges of the collars may vserve as screeds to smooth the portions .on which the rail plates are to rest, and after lthe cement surfaces are nished, collapsible cores 4set within the slabs where anchor posts are :to beplaced can be removed and the anchor boxes maynthen serve as fixed points of measurement .for the accurate setting of the posts in their exact position with relation to the lines to be occupied by the edges vof the rail bases. Plugs ush with the tops of the collars would be used to keep dirt out of the anchor boxes until ready for use, and thus during the whole course of finishing the surfaces, there would be no projecting bolt ends or other metal parts to interfere with easy operation ofthe finishing tools.

.Y I claim:

1. A railroad. track construction comprising a continuous, substantially unyielding concrete roadbed, a plurality of slabs of concrete thereon of a thickness to insulate the roadbed from injurious expansion or contraction due to atmoshaving flat tops on both sides of the central trough, a series of anchor boxes arranged at intervals along each of the elevated portions below the upper surface thereof, a series of rail plates arranged longitudinally of the elevated portions, each plate being formed with a central longitudnal recess of a width to receive a rail base, a cushion within the recess, rails having their bases within the recesses of the plates and upon the cushions, land means engaging the anchor boxes, the rail plates and the rail bases, to secure the rails to the plates and the plates to the roadbed.

S. J. REDDICK. 

